AEW Dynamite: Quake By The Lake episode falls short of 1 million viewers despite CM Punk's jaw-dropping return
The ratings for the Quake by the Lake special edition of AEW Dynamite have dropped. Despite a healthy improvement in the key 18-49 demo and average viewership, the Wednesday night flagship still failed to break the one million barrier.
This week witnessed a world title clash between Chris Jericho and Jon Moxley, battling in a brutal and bloody bout. The night also saw remarkable returns of Sting and CM Punk at the start and close of the night.
The Icon emerged from the coffin during Brody King vs. Darby Allin. Punk returned to the stand-off with Interim AEW Champion Jon Moxley after the Purveyor of Violence successfully defended his title.
Such a stacked night saw a demo rating and average viewership increase for Dynamite, as Brandon Thurston of Wrestlenomics reported a 972k avg. Viewership and 0.33 rating. Last week's totals were 938k and 0.32, respectively.
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AEW Dynamite last night on TBS (8-10pm):
972,000 viewers
P18-49 rating: 0.33
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Dynamite last week featured the return of the undisputed trio of Adam Cole, Kyle O'Reilly, and Bobby Fish. During their return segment, they surprisingly betrayed The Young Bucks, perhaps due to them growing closer to Hangman Page, arch-rival of Cole's.
What did fans make of the AEW Dynamite ratings this week?
The ratings are a unique conversation starter for fans via social media. Whether it be WWE or AEW, there are always fans who make their thoughts and feelings known on the matter.
See below a selection of examples of some fans who praised the improvement as a step in their direction and some fans who found the totals thoroughly unimpressive:
@BrandonThurston Lmao 🤣 still can’t do 1m with a world title match and only went up in demo .1 don’t care if it was number one that’s sad
@BrandonThurston "Jobbers at the lake" I mean "Quake at the lake" fails once again to attract a million viewers. So sad.
@BrandonThurston Good number, let's see how Punk's return and the Kenny Omega tease affects next week's number
@BrandonThurston That seems to be just where they're at. I wonder what other things they could try to get other viewers looking their way.
@BrandonThurston fantastic show if they can keep this momentum the audience is sure to grow
@BrandonThurston Hopefully next week with Punk, Omega and Danielson back they hit 1m
The general desire is to see Dynamite break the 1 million barrier. While some fans will consider the show a failure if it doesn't reach that landmark, others have made it clear they think with the return of CM Punk and potentially Kenny Omega, the show may finally cross the threshold.